By Simon Chen
After a scandalous ending to their season, the Madison Lady Knights were able to rebound to advance to the second round with a 5-2 win over fellow borough and divisional rival, New Utrecht.
The controversial finish came about when Madison coach Bill Dumont received plenty of negative attention as he was accused of poor sportsmanship when the skipper decided not to end a chin strap to a Lincoln hitter in a late season contest against their closest competitor.
With everything behind the city’s second seeded team, the lady Knights returned to true championship-caliber form as they started on the right foot with the opening round victory.
Thursday, May 22
In her first playoff appearance, Madison hurler Kayla Hill tossed seven solid innings to beat fellow Brooklyn divisional rival New Utrecht, 5-2. Hill (1-0) picked-up her first playoff victory by allowing two earned scores on five singles while fanning five.
At the dish, first baseman Nikki Panaro, led the way, went a perfect 2-for-2, with two singles that drove home two scores. Left fielder Alyssa Defillippo, shortstop Brittany O’Brien and center fielder Natasha Lezama each drove home a run to cap the lady Knights’ offense.
As for New Utrecht, the Lady Utes put up a much better performance than their two regular season matchups, when they were shutout 31-0 by Madison pitching. Lady Utes’ hurler Toniann Morro pitched seven solid innings, surrendering four earned runs on five hits, and fanned two. As for the offense, Morro and the third baseman Nicolette Sinagra drove in the two New Utrecht scores.
Lincoln scored three runs in the first inning to grab an early lead but that was all they would score as they fell 9-3 to Clinton.
Shortstop Analisha McKenith, catcher Francesca Gagliardi, and ace hurler Katharine Fuentes each drove in a score to lead the Lincoln offense. On the mound, the usual reliable, Fuentes struggled as she pitched four innings, giving up four earned runs on five hits while striking out eight. Shortstop and number two pitcher Sabrina Aponte came in to pitch the final two innings but was also ineffective. Aponte allowed two earned runs on six hits.
